DFA Digital Components: Implementation Guide

Each step in the DFA Journey follows a pattern of activities and a progression of learning that inspires students and teachers to reflect on their values, the skills they want to practice, and the culture they want to create in their classroom.

 

  • The Dignity for All (DFA) curriculum is based on “Standing Together” a music video that shows a story of a middle school with the varying characteristics and roles of a bullying cycle. Students watch the video in its entirety in On the Reel and discuss their initial impressions and elements in the story.

 

  • Throughout DFA, students will be asked to watch specific segments of the video again to reflect critically on the experiences of each character through open-ended, collaborative discussion questions.

 

  • After Break it Down, students go Behind the Scenes, an empathy-building activity, to discover a character’s back-story. Students connect to the stories of others and then break into groups to role-play with restorative enquiry as their guide.

 

  • Then, students Write to the Point and use guiding prompts that are rooted in the concepts of DFA to reflect and journal about their own stories.

 

  • Students and teachers together read Just the Facts closely to discover new information and understanding around bullying behavior, cycles of bullying, school climate, empathy, mindfulness, and restorative approaches to learning.

 

  • Finally, students play in We Got Game, they test out their knowledge in interactive activities and collaborate in group projects to practice their skills in critical reflection and evidence-based reasoning.